With the growing sense of disconnect and social isolation happening in communities across Canada and the lack of civic participation in our towns and cities, we need to declare community essential. We believe that Deepening Community is the answer.
This guide has been developed to support community champions, concerned citizens, municipal staff and decision-makers such as mayors and elected officials to build the case to deepen community and make your community essential.
There are five sections that will get you thinking about developing your own local Neighbourhood Strategy.
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Assessing Your City’s Commitment to Deepening Community
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10 Really Good Ideas
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10 Inspiring Stories
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10 Really Useful Resources
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10 Ways to Get Started
Further Your Learning
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Learn more and Register for our Foundations for Building a Neighbourhood Strategy
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Learn more about the Tamarack Membership
Note: This document was originally published in 2022 and reflects the language and terminology we used at that time. The publication uses the term stakeholder to reference the different parties connected to the outcomes of a situation or decision. Since using the term, we as an organization have learned more about the origins of this word and its original uses. We want to acknowledge this history and communicate our desire to change, which we are still developing as an organization.
This publication also uses the acronym BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) without providing a full explanation of its meaning and references LGBT2SQ, terminology that has since evolved. Today, we use 2SLGBTQIA+ and strive to provide clearer definitions and context for identity-based language to support accessibility, inclusion, and understanding.
In conversations around Equity, Anti-Racism, and Reconciliation, it’s essential to have a common language, especially because people inevitably come to conversations with different expectations of what certain words mean. We've developed a glossary, a living document that we will update as we learn what language helps us best engage in our work.
